87 year old survivor. From the Cory Coker museum. Mechanically restored. Drive anywhere. One repaint, Non V12-1949 Mercury Flathead V8. Original 3 speed manual transmission and rear. Smooth as glass. Located in Mena, Arkansas.
I recently learned about a car built in 1938 called the Xenia Coupe. The car was built by Andre Dubonnet to show off his new independent suspension. He used a Hispano Suiza H6C chassis and modified it to include his enclosed coil spring suspension.
Hispano Suiza was a European manufacturer of the finest luxury cars up until 1936 when they turned from the manufacturing of cars to aviation engines. The cars that they built in the 1930's were considered some of the finest in the world at the time.
For his creation, Xenia, Andre Dubonnet used a Hispano Suiza H6C chassis and chose Jaques Saoutchik to form the one of a kind body. The result was an avante-garde interpretation of the teardrop, and was different from any other cars of it's time. The Xenia's styling was inspired in part by art deco architecture.
Jaques Saoutchik was the founder of a top-class French coachbuilding company. In the 1930s the company became famous for their high quality and often extravagant designs. Here are a few of those designs.
Here is a little history of Lawry's Used Cars that was first posted over at An Arkie's Musings.
My Daddy started Lawry's Used Cars in Mena, Arkansas in 1979. I have been in business with him since I moved to Arkansas in 1981. My Daddy has been in the car business since he was in college. For most of my life I have worked with him. I got started very early as these photos show. Here I am helping him sand a car in Collegedale, Tennessee.
From Tennessee he moved to Colorado where he opened Tri Town Service in the Dacono, Frederick, Firestone area. In the early 70's, the business was moved to Erie, Colorado. When Daddy moved from Colorado to Arkansas I operated Tri Town Service.
Several years ago I made a trip back to Erie, Colorado and took this photo of the old Tri Town Service building.
When we moved to Mena, Arkansas in 1981 I joined Daddy at the Lawry's Used Cars location. This is what the business looked like in the 1980's.
Here is an aerial view of what Lawry's Used Cars looks like now. Several buildings have been added over the years.
Even though Daddy is at the age when a lot of guys are taking it easy, he still works full time operating Lawry's Used Cars.
Over the years the business has had some close calls. We have been right on the edge of two tornadoes. In the 1993 Mena tornado the 4 bay carport was picked up off of its foundation and moved a couple of feet, and a tree fell across one of the buildings and we had to repair and replace the roof. In the 2009 Mena tornado We had signs blown down but very little other damage even though less than a mile away homes were completely destroyed.
In April of 2007 a controlled burn in our area became out of control. The fire jumped the tracks behind our business and burned a number of cars. Thankfully the fire was brought under control before it reached our buildings.
For 30 years now Lawry's Used Cars has been a big part of my life. It is still enjoyable to go to work each day; I get to meet so many nice people. We have had people from all over the world stop in at our little business here in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. Here is a partial list of collector cars for sale at Lawry's Used Cars.
I ran across these photos over at the blog A Time To Get. They really grabbed my attention as I had never seen anything like these. They are awesome, I would love to have one. Dream Factory Blow takes the stock micro vans that cram the streets of Japan, and turns them into custom creations styled after iconic American trucks and vans of the 1970s.
Recently my parents went on the Hemmings Cruise 2010. They had a wonderful time and visited with many wonderful people. Whenever old car people get together one of the topics of conversation is always the cars they used to own.
One of my Daddy's favorite car stories is the story of his honeymoon car. It was in 1954 that he spotted a 1949 Frazer Manhattan behind a gas station in Nashville, Tennessee while he was going to college in nearby Madison, Tennessee. The Frazer had been sideswiped and the front bumper bent, but it was only five years old, it was very nice, and it was only 100 dollars.
After buying the car he found out that it had belonged to Rod Brasfield, a comedian on the Grand Ole Opry. That made it a celebrity car. Unfortunately he also found out that number 5 rod was knocking.
ROD BRASFIELD AND MINNIE PEARL
With the help of his friend Louie he dropped the pan, pulled the crankshaft, had the number 5 throw ground to .060, installed a new bearing and put it back together. With a little body work and some Bondo, which was a fairly new product at the time, along with a gallon of blue paint it looked good and he was proud of it.
DADDY'S HONEYMOON 1949 FRAZER
The 49 Frazer was the first car that Daddy ever put five dollars worth of gas in at one time. It had a tank that held over 20 gallons and gas was 24.9 cents a gallon. Soon after the Frazer was repaired and repainted it was December 1954 - time for my parents wedding. They headed from Tennessee to cold and snowy Michigan where they were to be married. By the time they got there there was a tic tic tic in the engine. Daddy thought it was a loose tappet, so he adjusted the valves out in the snow.
BOB AND PAT LAWRY
After the wedding they headed for Kansas. As they drove along the "tappet noise" got louder. They only had 35 dollars between them as the traveled, and they spent 5 dollars on a motel the first night. The knocking was getting louder. Daddy pulled off the number 5 plug wire and kept going. At 75 miles per hour in overdrive, you could barely hear the noise. They made it back to school safe and sound and a month later scraped $6.75 together for a new bearing insert and after it was installed the Frazer was running good again.
After awhile they sold the Frazer and bought a 1949 Chevy convertible but that is another story for another time. I hope the Rod Brasfield/Honeymoon Frazer is still alive somewhere. Daddy did find a 1949 Frazer Manhattan for sale at Country Classic Cars in Staunton, Illinois, and just had to once again own a car like his honeymoon Frazer. Like all of his other cars the Frazer is for sale. If you would like to own this blue 1949 Frazer Manhattan with recent paint, wide whites and an original rough interior, 3500.00 will make that happen.
1946 Mercury Pickup, rare Canadian only model, runs good 15,500.00
A little history of the Mercury Pickup.
Mercury trucks first came to the market in 1946. When production of Ford vehicles started after WWII, Canadian truck buyers had a choice of either the Ford nameplate or the Mercury nameplate on trucks built in Canada. Because smaller Canadian towns had either a Ford-Monarch or Lincoln-Mercury-Meteor dealer, but not both, the Lincoln-Mercury-Meteor network got the Mercury truck.
Canadian-made Ford and Mercury trucks differed, for the most part, only cosmetically. Many years it was just "Mercury" versus "Ford" letters on the hoods and pickup tailgates, plus distinctive medallions that set them apart. The only years that the Mercury truck had it own distinctive look were 1946 and 1947. In those years the Mercury trucks were treated to a heavily-chromed grille and bumper treatment, compared to the Ford's plain looks.
In 1946 there were 2,074 Mercury truck units produced 1/2 ton through 1 ton. The peak year for Mercury truck production was 1952 with 12,676 sold. The need for a dual marketing network was eliminated with the Automotive Trade Agreement signed by the United States and Canada in 1965. The free-flow across the border brought the phase-out of the Mercury trucks with 1968 being the last year they were produced.
You can own this unique low production truck. Give Bob a call at: Lawry's Used Cars 479-394-9938
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